Tagged: BCI

A research headed by José del R. Millán from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland is aiming to develop brain-controlled wheelchair that can be operated with maximum safety and reliability over a long period of time. José’s work was presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) conference in San Francisco and it also underlines the importance of developing prosthetics that can be controlled using neuroprosthetic devices that enable the user to perform complex tasks.Read More…

A team of Spanish researchers , led by Guilio Ruffini at Starlab in Barcelona, has claimed to have conducted first ever demonstration of direct brain-to-brain communication between two human minds sitting apart at a distance of 5, 000 miles from each other. The brain-computer interface (BCI) and computer- brain interface (CBI) research developments lay at the base of brain-to-brain communication. The combination of these technologies enabled the researchers to create this hyperinteraction (brain-to-brain communication). Read More…

Mind Solutions, Inc. (OTC – VOIS) has been working on a first of its kind EEG/BCI (Bone Conduction Implant) device for past many months. Recently, the company released photographs of the device. One can wear it around the ear like a common Bluetooth headset. The device uses a single dry sensor that receives EEG signal from within the ear. Read More…

Researchers at the Jyvakyla University, central Finland have come one step closer to inventing a thought-powered computer. The research headed by Jarno Mikkonen has successfully demonstrated what can be done using one’s thought alone. The system uses a sensor soaked in salt water that is placed on the head, and it reads brain neuron signals that pass through the surface of skull. This system has been developed to help people suffering from paralysis in their day-to-day activities and harness the underlying power of their brain to do normal activities. It can also help in develop various applications related to human-computer interfaces that can function just by brewing up thoughts in your mind, for example moving elements of a game just by thinking that they have to be moved in certain direction.Read More…

To give disabled athletes a chance to show-off their athletic skills, Switzerland will hold the world’s first Cybathlon, the championship for robot-assisted paratheletes in October 2016 that is going to be hosted by a coalition of Swiss robotics labs. This high-tech mecca of Olympics like games will have brain-controlled events where the athletes will have to beat each other in racing game controlled by brain alone using BCI (brain-computer interface). Another event would include electrical stimulation bike race where players with spinal cord injury will be pre-fitted with functional electrical stimulation devices so that they can pedal a cycling device around a circular course. Other events will have leg prosthetic race, exoskeleton powered race, powered wheelchair race and arm prosthetic race. In total the Cybathlon will have six events which are going to be attended by people from all over the globe.

Imagine controlling your music player just with your brain. The ability to change songs or toggling the volume without even moving your hands. Yes, that is exactly what Engineers from the Department of Systems and Control Engineering and the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics at the University of Malta have created. A brain controlled music player that was presented at the 6th International IEEE/EMBS Neural Engineering Conference in San Diego with the aim to make life easier for people with some kind of disability. This brain-computer interface (BCI) technology works by reading the user’s brain signal activity by placing electrodes at specific position in the head using electroencephalography (EEG). Thereafter when the user looks at specific boxes for controls such as volume, next song etc. which sends commands to the user by reading the brain activity. This BCI system developed by Rosanne Zerafa uses a unique brain pattern reading system, the same which occurs when person looks at flickering light called Steady State Visually Evoked potentials (SSVEPs).Read More…

Unlike some of the quadcopters featured earlier at our portal this one will completely blow you as it is a thought controlled helicopter that soars into the sky. Developed by a team of scientists led by engineering professor Bin He at University of Minnesota, this though-controlled helicopter is the perfect example of Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) making it quite capable of being just controlled by thoughts of your brain. The user is fitted with cap having 64 electrodes that detect electrical signals of brain wave activity using the EEG (electroencephalography) and then converting the signals into the control signals for the helicopter. The cap detects the brainwave activity close to the scalp where motor cortex portion of the brain is located and therefore is able to read the user’s intention about moving the helicopter in 3D space.Read More…

It is heartening when technology comes in handy for people who have been disabled due to paralysis due to spinal cord injury, giving them a new lease of life. For example the Indego exoskeleton which helps stroke patients walk upright as opposed to spending the rest of their lives in a wheelchair. Exoskeletons have also been used for other applications like going into dangerous territory which is affected with nuclear radiation. But now there is a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton coordinated by Space Applications Services NV which uses complex technology to bypass the spinal cord and rerouting the brain signals to the exoskeleton, in a way hacking the brain signals to the robotic exoskeleton and help the paralyzed patients get back on their feet. This project called Mindwalker is funded EUR 2.75 million by the European Commission and aims at hacking the brain signals to control advanced orthosis and other medical conditions where the patient cannot walk.

A brain-controlled toy helicopter is no ordinary project up on Kickstarter for funding and it isn’t one bit surprising that it has achieved double the funding amount with almost two more weeks left. That means you will surely see this amazing helicopter called Puzzlebox Orbit flying around as will now head into the production stage. At first sight it reminded me of the RC Space Ball, but then I realized that it was much more than just a simple RC toy flying around actuated by the RC in one’s hand. Having an open source coding software and open hardware provides you the liberty to customize the toy the way you like, in a way like the ATOMS Express Toys project. Developed by Puzzlebox group who have been working on this brain-controlled helicopter for almost two years now; the ultimate goal of the project is to better understand and explore the possibilities of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology.Read More…